Unlikely Inspiration

Don’t we all need inspiration? My day-to-day activities, responsibilities of family and the demands of work, seem to crowd out the time I need for reflecting and looking for new opportunities. Even if I do get an insights about relationships, or professional work, I often can’t capture them long enough to form a strategy to implement the new idea.
The answer often comes in unlikely places.

Today, I realized that changing my outlook was the first step. I had a busy day, full of what I thought were “interruptions.” One of these helped me realized that these interruptions are exactly my responsibility.

I work in a small museum part-time and there is, like most jobs, more work than time to do it. A group of 20 mentally handicapped young adults unexpectedly stopped by the museum. Twenty people in our small museum is a lot and when they loudly expressed their excitement at being in the museum, I jumped in trying to explain the exhibit. After about ten minutes, one young boy slipped his arm around me and gave me a big hug. Just as unexpected and welcomed as that hug was, the insight came and I realized that my job is these “interruptions.”

The museum board is currently creating a long range plan and education program was an area we identified as needing more attention. This experience helped me to step outside the box and see that the role of the museum to educating people begins when they walk through the door and that what we provide is greatly appreciated. My focus had been scheduling groups, and planning programs. This unexpected hug let me see something new. I am glad I capture that inspiration and embraced it.